Month: November, 2013

I’ve decided to do a week in review column, to share things which interested me throughout the week. Hopefully, it exposes you to some new things.

Everyone’s A Terrorist – I have stayed away from reading and dwelling on the NSA, primarily because it was something everyone had long suspected anyways. Kind of like getting depressed about the weather, as it is something totally outside of your control. This article kind of got me, only because it demonstrates the ever expanding use of the label ‘terrorist;’ and should be something that gives us all pause. It goes back to the old school of thought, and I am at a loss right now to remember its origins; that one of the most effective ways to control a population is to create laws that outlaw things that are so general, that anyone can be labeled a criminal.

Twin Towers Halloween Costume – staying on the theme of terrorism, comes this story out of the UK. Two college girls decide to go to a fancy dress party as the flaming twin towers of 911. I am all for tasteless, sometimes very tasteless humor. If I think this is pushing the envelope a little, you have probably gone too far. This ranks right up there as dressing as Hitler or a Nazi or some infamous serial rapist as a gag.

Arafat Assassinated by Polonium? – this story rang very true for me, especially as it was during the time where the use of polonium as a tool of assassination was all the rage. There was no to little interest in this story as a topic of discussion. Which is a little odd. I think if we watch for future developments on this front, it isn’t going to be as instructive in terms of Arafat’s demise, but instead it will probably tell us a little more about the roots of the other polonium assassinations around that time.

LA Meteor– this was really a non story other than some of the more alarmist statements on facebook and twitter. My favorite aspect the pic in my link, which floated around the net a few hours after the event. For quite a while, that picture was being re-posted at what seemed like a 3 to 1 ratio to REAL pictures. Which tells you quite a bit about the general public’s appetite for the most alarming representation of any story.

Spidery Comet No one has any real explanation of what this could be. Even if it was an ice comet, it’s behavior is a little bit unusual.

……and lastly, I got an odd Tweet ad from KFC advising, “Dinosaurs are alive and well at KFC.” I initially thought it was some new meme that we are eating dinosaur anytime we eat chicken (which is effectively true due to the close relation). Watching the video, I am not entirely sure what they were going for…. but I have to say that the idea has always creeped me out a bit. I can’t really put into words why….